Alcoholic beverages attract taxes and duties at specific rates because they contain alcohol. So it is logical to assume that those which have higher alcohol content will draw higher taxes. But the facts in India are different.
Beer, a drink with low alcohol content, is taxed at a rate atleast 1.5 times higher than other alcoholic drinks that are often put in the hard drinks category. In some States it is almost three times.
At a one-to-one meeting here on Saturday, Director General of All Indian Brewers’ Association, (AIBA) Sobhan Roy presented these facts to press his case for rationalisation of taxes. He said that in most parts of the world beer is taxed at a lower rate than other drinks with higher alcoholic content. He pointed out that such a tax structure has resulted in making other drinks more affordable than beer and has pushed the youth away from a relatively safer drink like beer to harder drinks.
“The social consequences of such a move, particularly when a rising number of youngsters with disposable income even in rural areas are looking for ways for fun and enjoyment, are there for everyone to see. Just look at what has happened to the social fabric of Kerala within a couple of decades,” Roy pointed out.
He also suggested delinking beer from hard drinks by allowing beer— only outlets as it would help increase the availability and keep people away from spurious and adulterated drinks that harm the health of those from poorer sections. Allaying the commonly-held notion that beer is bad for health, he pointed out that modern methods of preparation and preservation of beer have vastly reduced the elements that earlier used to be identified as reasons for beer’s adverse impact on health.
Roy said the beer market in Odisha was showing a double-digit growth in the last decade but has fallen to low single-digit now. The AIBA is a representative body of manufacturers of major beer brands which collectively account for over 85 per cent of all beers made in India.